


Right Hand

by FemaleSpock



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: (Not yet but it's discussed), Birthday, Emperor Hux, Hux is insecure about a lot of things, Kylo Ren has feelings, M/M, Submissive Kylo Ren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-05
Updated: 2016-04-05
Packaged: 2018-05-31 12:04:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6469378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FemaleSpock/pseuds/FemaleSpock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux discovers that it is Kylo Ren's birthday, amongst other things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right Hand

It was never a good sign when Mitaka came up to Hux with a sheepish look on his face. In fact, it usually only meant one thing.

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be in a meeting, Lieutenant?”

 

“The conference room is…occupied, sir. Kylo Ren is…well, he’s in there and he didn’t seem to appreciate the interruption.”

 

There it was. Exactly as Hux had expected. He wasn’t exactly sure when he had become Ren’s unofficial handler but somehow the role always seemed to fall to him. He let out a sigh. “Reschedule the meeting for an hour’s time. I will see to Ren.”

 

Mitaka nodded gratefully and scurried off to do as Hux had commanded. Hux started his own journey, walking steadily down familiar halls to the conference room under occupation from Ren. He did not comm-inn - it was Ren who was the intruder here – merely entered the code and stepped through the door as it swished open.

 

Ren’s back was turned, his dark hair shining under the overly-bright lights of the conference room. His helmet was sitting at the end of the long desk that dominated the room. He was standing very still. He made no indication of noticing Hux’s entrance.

 

“I am told you are sulking though I find that hard to believe given the lack of property damage.” Hux ventured closer to him, within striking distance even. There was no safe distance with Ren, so why display fear?

 

Ren did not turn. “I am not sulking.” There was bitterness in his voice. “I am merely contemplating.”

 

“And what exactly are you contemplating?” He wasn’t sure why he was asking. He should just order Ren out but taking that tack with him had never really worked in the past.

 

“It’s my birthday today.”

 

“Are you sad because no-one made you a cake? I’m sure the Stormtroopers would have thrown a party if you’d told them,” Hux mocked.

 

He was almost disappointed at Ren’s lack of reaction. He’d been strangely calm since Starkiller was destroyed. No, that wasn’t it. He’d been moody, prone to taking out his lightsaber and smashing up the ship. In other words, typical Ren behaviour. But he’d displayed none of that around Hux. He made no attempt to provoke him and he positively ignored Hux’s barbs aimed in his direction. It was enough to set Hux on edge.

 

Ren turned around all of a sudden but did nothing further. He did not reach for the mask. Did not speak. Did not reach for his lightsaber. Nothing. He just looked at Hux, no trace of anger in his face.

 

“How old are you?” Hux prompted.

 

“I am thirty years old.” Ren sounded mournful.

 

“You’re thirty?” Hux was unable to keep the disbelief out of his voice. He wasn’t sure how old he had thought Ren was – he always just sort of thought of him as an overgrown teenager – but he had certainly hadn’t considered that he would be anywhere close to his own age. Even looking at Ren now, knowing that, didn’t make it easier to swallow. His facial features were arranged in such a way to make him look younger, his wide eyes and oversized mouth gave him the look of an innocent. He supposed that was why Ren rarely unmasked.

 

“Vader helped establish the Empire when he was twenty-three. He had already served Emperor Palpatine for seven whole years by the time he was my age.” He sounded almost wistful but for the undertone of frustration. “Look where the Order is now.”

 

For the first time in his life, Hux thought he might understand Kylo Ren. He remembered being made General at age thirty. Everyone had kept telling him how young he was to have made it so far but all he kept thinking was that he wasn’t young enough. That he hadn’t done enough. There had been plenty younger than him who had done far more. Padme Amidala had been elected Queen of Naboo at _fourteen._

 

“I hoped you might come. You understand as well as I do. You want to be Emperor and you always have,” Ren continued. “We both need the Order to succeed.”

 

Hux froze. Ren was trying to catch him in treachery. Was it worth denying the accusation – how much could he see in his mind? Would a struggle only confirm Ren’s suspicions? Ren’s victims had always called out in pain under his interrogations. Hux felt nothing. He wanted to believe that meant that Ren was just guessing but he still couldn’t trust that his mind was free from his intrusion. How else could he have known? He had never spoken of it aloud.

 

“You’ve tensed up,” Ren observed, a flush of red appearing on his cheeks. “It’s not…I want that too, you know. You could lead this Order to greatness and I would be there at your side.” His dark eyes were wide, earnest even.

 

This had to be a trap. Lure him in by playing on his ambitions then turn around and tell Snoke everything. Hux narrowed his eyes. “Why would I believe that you betray your master for me?”

 

“Solo was right about one thing. Snoke is using me. He intends to destroy me as soon as the Order conquers the galaxy. I suppose I always knew but I didn’t see that there was any choice.”

 

“Don’t play games, Ren. You’ve always despised me and nothing has changed. There’s no reason to think that I would be any _nicer_ to you than Snoke.”

 

Ren's eyes were a little shiny. “I was alone in the snow, I was dying. You rescued me. I was asleep, dreaming, but I could feel your presence somehow – it was warm. Your hands were so soft applying the bacta to my wounds. I felt your thoughts then, your ambition.”

 

Hux sighed. “I came because I had orders. Snoke would have killed me for my disobedience.”

 

Hux had intended to derail Ren from this strange line of thought but instead the man just smiled. “Imminently practical, General. Had our positions been reversed I would have left you to die and worried about the consequences later.”

 

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” said Hux, warily.

 

“Your crew records list you as ambidextrous.”

 

Hux wasn’t surprised that Ren had gone to the trouble to look him up. It was what he would have done if Ren were an official member of the Order with a standard profile. Hux had searched for weeks for information only to give up in frustration at the apparent non-existence of the man he shared a ship with. Kylo Ren was a false name, obviously, but there was no trace of who he had been before. He just seemed to have popped into existence the day that Snoke had brought him into the Order.

 

He was, however, surprised that Ren chose now to bring this up; the fact of is handedness hardly seemed relevant to the discussion at hand. “They do.”

 

“But you’re not. You hold a stylus with your left. When sparring, you lead with your right. If someone hands you a drink, you take it with your right. You mostly used your left when you constructed the model Starkiller,” Ren listed. “Different hands for different purposes.”

 

He arched a brow and pretended it didn’t unnerve him, how closely Ren appeared to have been watching him. No-one had ever noticed that before, the imperfection in his attempts at symmetry. No-one besides his father and he was long gone. “Your point?”

 

“Let me be your right hand. Let me travel the galaxy and bring you the corpses of your enemies. I have powers that you will never so much as touch and I would use them all in service of you.”

 

“If you’re so powerful, why don’t you just kill me and take the throne for yourself? I can’t see that I would be much use against Snoke,”

 

“Haven’t you been listening?” There was the slightest edge of frustration slipping through now.

 

Hux was honestly impressed that Ren had managed to restrain himself until now. “I have, you just haven't explained yourself adequately.”

 

Ren threw up his hands. “I don’t want to rule. I’m not meant for that purpose. I was made to serve, as Vader did.”

 

“You’re serious,” said Hux, barely daring to believe it.

 

“I mean, could you really imagine me doing politics? I don’t think I could I could last five minutes of trade negotiation without taking out my lightsaber.”

 

It was almost a joke, not something he was used to from Ren.

 

“You need an enforcer. Someone you can trust to stay by your side. I can be that,” Ren insisted. He reached for Hux’s left hand. “You don’t become Emperor without allies.” He pulled the glove off by the second finger.

 

“What are you doing?” Hux did not draw his hand back but he could feel his hands trembling under Ren’s touch. There was a reason he kept them hidden.

 

If Ren noticed the assortment of scabs and faded scars, he did not mention them. Instead, he pressed his lips to the rough skin of Hux’s hand. “I could serve you in other ways if you like.”

 

Hux would have had to have been completely deaf to miss the innuendo in Ren’s words. He felt heat flood to his face. “Is that what all this is about?”

 

“We have a connection. It just took me a while to realise it.” He moved to position himself behind Hux. His body was warm where it pressed up against Hux’s. “Look out at the stars. All this will be yours, I promise you,” Ren whispered and Hux could feel the heat of his breath against his ear.

 

Hux shivered. He was half-way to being hard now. “Alright. Prove your willingness to serve-” Ren wrapped an arm around him, reaching downwards. “-but not here. Come back to my quarters.”

 

Ren stopped and Hux could feel him deflate a little. “Would you not have me pleasure you as you look out over your future empire?”

 

Hux’s cock gave a traitorous twitch at that but he held firm. “Didn’t you tell me that you needed me to be practical? Well, I am telling you, we are not doing this here: I told Mitaka to reschedule the conference – yes, the conference that you held up with your brooding – and they are due any minute.”

 

“I could keep them out with the Force,” Ren offered, flatteringly eager.

 

He disentangled himself from Kylo’s grasp. “No. If you want me by a window so badly you can get me my empire. I have no interest in maybes.” He strode halfway out of the room before turning back to look at Ren. “Well, are you coming to my quarters or not? Because I have to say I am not especially impressed by your idea of obedience so far. He tried not to hold his breath as he waited for Ren to make his decision. 

 

Gratifyingly, Ren came jogging right along and Hux knew then that he had him in the palm of his hand.

 

“Good boy. We can consider this your birthday gift if you like.”

 

Notes

I sat down to work on my KBB fic and instead I wrote this *shakes head at self*. I had had the idea of Hux being shocked by Kylo’s age for a while and my original intention that it would be more a crack fic but idk, I just found myself going in a different direction.

 

This fic was more than a bit inspired by the incident of Julius Caesar weeping over Alexander the Great because he had achieved so little at his age compared to Alexander. Clearly I just have a thing for connecting Kylux with Roman history.

 

As ever, any feedback is much appreciated :)


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